So many decisions!?!?!?

Wow is the best way to summarize the past few weeks. We had our consult with the surgeon about an embolization which has turned into a liver resection. Basically he feels that the tumors have shrunk enough as well as enough good healthy new liver tissue has grown to warrant removing the tumors. 
We have never seen the PET scans, just read the reports and it was impressive. Basically one year ago the right lobe of Jeff's liver was 60-80% tumor and it is down to about 20%.  The lymph nodes are clear that were active even 2 months ago. Given that the lymph system is how cancer spreads now is the time to do something BIG. The surgeon even said he hadn't seen a response to chemo like this.
A liver resection is BIG! It requires a very large incision around Jeff's torso, one week in the hospital, 6 weeks of recuperation, and 1 month off chemo before and after the surgery. The surgery is not without risks, the largest being liver failure if there is not enough good healthy liver left to process toxins and help heal him. The upside is that survival rises from a 16% chance of making it 5 years to 60%.  And there have been patients that have lived longer.
If we choose an embolization now we cannot do a resection later. And it doesn't increase his survival odds.  According to Dr. Kim, Jeff passes the "eyeball test" and if he didn't have his chart in front of him he wouldn't know that he had Stage 4 cancer. The surgeon feels as if there will be a time an embolization is warranted (if additional tumors were to grow). Dr. Kim believes that we can reduce this cancer to the microscopic level, with follow-up chemo. He is definitely skilled (he's on the liver transplant team at the U of U), but we are still getting a 2nd opinion this Friday to make sure it is the right option.
Up to this point we have not had options, just chemo until we die. And now it feels as if we have almost too many.  Our greatest fears with "just chemo" was that there would come a time when they would tell us that it had stopped working and we needed to move on to the next drug cocktail until all had been exhausted.  This decision has sooooo many more fears and concerns. When do we do it?,...if we still have to do chemo after why do it at all?,...how do we keep life normal before, during, and after for Paige and us, for all that matter?,...the vast amounts of stuff that needs to be done both here at home and work before surgery, and don't forget the risks of major surgery.
We are 90% certain we are gonna do the surgery, and tenatively it is scheduled for October 20th. Jeff is going hunting with Rusty (what a difference a year later), we want to get out camping one more time with the Cary's, Jeff needs to get all his worksites and our trailer/house ready for winter and we have a trip planned to Vegas for the race mid October which are the reasons for the delay. By doing it then Jeff hopes to be feeling well enough by Thanksgiving that our dear friend Eric will join us, that we can have a glorious Christmas and start the New Year full of hope.
We cannot thank all of you enough for your positive thoughts and prayers; they've obviously worked.  A special thanks to our angels in Heaven who are also obviously watching over us; we are sure they desperately miss Jeff as does he, but it's just not time yet!!!!! We hope to be celebrating with each and every one of you this new year and many years to come.

Love to all of You,
Jeff, Cheryl,  and Paige